Method of producing mercury



Reissued Apr. 23, 1929,

UNITED "STATES.

WALTER GLAESER, 0F

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNOR TO GLAESER, RESEARCH COBPORATIOZN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACOBPOBATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD or rnonucme MERCURY.

No Drawing. Original No. 1,637,481, dated August 2,

Application for reissue filed August 31, 1928. Serial No. 303,372.

The.presentinvention relates, as indicated,

to a method of producing mercury, and is par directed to animproved andeconomical method of producing mercury from cinnabar ore and at the sametime producing mercurous chloride, which is commonly known as calomel.of the foregoing and related ends, said inveution, then, consists of themeans hereinafter fully described and particularly'pointed out in theclaims.

- The following description sets forth in deticularly tail one approvedmethod of carrying out the invention, such disclosed mode, however,constituting but one of the various ways in which the principle of theinvention may be used.

In carrying out the present method I crush cinnabar ore to a finenessallowing it to pass a fine screen of 80 to 150 mesh and then add tothisfinely crushed ore sufficient water to produce a thin paste, and to thispaste 1 add a sufficient amount of acid to destroy the basicity of themixture caused by the possible or calcium hypochlorite.

presence of any carbonates,' hydroxides and the like in the originalrock. The amount of acid needed is generally relatively small. However,if the excess of acid employed in the mixture is to also react with thehypochlorite or the like referred to below, it should be sufiicient toallow liberation of chlorine or the likelfor the amount of mercurypresent in the ore. To this acidified paste is now added a hypochloriteof an alkali or alkaline earth metal, preferably a solution of sodiumThe reactions which take place are, first, interaction between thesodium hypochlorite and the acid which, for instance, will be consideredas acid, to give sodium chloride and nascent chlorine. In practice Iprefer to add a hypochlorite solution to a but slightly acidified pasteof crushed cinnabar ore and water and to-liberate nascent ture by meansof carbonicacid, which is supplied either as gas oras sodiumbicarbonate. I then decompose the sodium or calcium carbonate'formed byadding an amount of acid equivalent to duced. The nascent chlorine actswith the cinnabar ore to form mercuric chloride while any excess chlorne reacts with water to form hydrochloric acid and free oxygen, the freeTo the accomplishment chloride, from hydrochloric chlorine from thismix-' the amounts of carbonates pro-' ydride, acted upon which, withwater, forms sulphuric acid. This sulphuric acid acts with the mercuricchloride to form mercuric sulphate and hydrochloric acid. During thereaction the mixture should be heated to a temperature of between and 90hasten the speed of the reaction, and it should be agitated in order tosecure a high yield of mercury and also to promote the speed. The

mercuric chloride and the mercuric sulphate are both in solution fromwhich they are removed, after'or without previous filtration, upon theaddition of finely divided metal, which may be either iron, zinc,copper, aluminum, metal alloys, or, in fact, practically any metal. Themercuric chloride and the mercuric sulphate are both in solution and react .with the metal which is present to form an amalgam between thismetal and the mercury,

and a chloride and a sulphate of the metal.

'After the formation of the amalgam between the mercury and the freemetal present the amalgam is removed from the solution, Washed, and thenheated in a cast iron still at a temperature suificient mercury, sayabove 360 ing collected in this way, purified from the over again in theprocess.

Instead of acting upon the mercuric chloride and mercuric sulphate,which are both in solution, with metal to obtain the mercury in form ofan amalgam, I may'desire to produce calomel, which is mercurous themercuric chloride and the mercuric sulphate solution. For this purpose Isubject the mixture containing the-merwhile the metal is curic chlorideand the mercuric sulphate in solution tofiltration, in order to separatethe insoluble residue consisting of rock from this solution. To thissolution I now add a solution of mercurous nitrate in sufficient amounta formation of mercurous chlor de to produce according to the followingequation:

degrees C. in order to mercury and may be used 1927. Serial No. 750,000,filed November 14, 1924.-

to drive off the v I C., the mercury be-,.

' The mercurous chloride which is thus formed is insoluble. in thesolutionand is sep'arated from the solution by filtration, then driedand purified by resublimation;

The mercuric sulphate contained in the mother liquor from the mercurouschloride is by metal fillings to obtain its mercury content in the formof a metal amalgam as described above.

The reactions which take place in the mixture during the hypochloritetreatment and the treatment with metal I believe to be as follows:

The present process is simple and inexpensive and may be used to produceeither calomel and some metallic mercury, or metallic mercury alone .ataconsidcrable saving over the methods which are now in use. I have foundthat nascent bromide or iodinewill act equally as well as chlorine inpromoting the reactions described above for the formation of either themercury amalgam or the calomel.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the methodherein disclosed, provided the step or steps stated by any of thefollowing claims or the equivalent of such stated step or steps beemployed. 7

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention 1. In amethod of extracting mercury from finely dividedcinnabar ore, the step which finely divided cinnabar ore, the

h finely divided consists in reacting upon such ore with a hypochloriteof an alkaline or alkaline earth metal and a metal, thereby liberatingmercury and forming an amalgam with the fnetal present.

2. In a method of extracting mercury from steps which consist inreacting upon cinnabar ore with a metal and a hypochlorite of analkaline or alkaline earth metal and then removing'the resulting amalgamof the metal and the mercury and heating the same to free the mercurytherefrom.

3. In a method of extracting mercury from cinnabar ore, the steps whichconsist in reacting upon cinnabar ore With a metal and a hypochlorite ofan alkaline metal, then removing the resulting amalgam of the metal andthe mercury, and heating-the same to free the mercury therefrom.

4. In a method of extracting mercury from cinnabar ore, the step whichconsists in rendering the mercury content of cinnabar ore Water solubleby means of a nascent halogen.

5. In a method of extracting mercury from cinnabar ore, the step whichconsists in rendering the mercury content of cinnabar ore Water solubleby means of a nascent chlorine,

6/ In a method of extracting mercury from -cinnabar ore, the step whichconsists in making mercuric chloride by reacting upon cinnabar ore withnascent chlorine.

7 In a method of extracting mercury from cinnabar ore, the step whichconsists in making a mercuric halogen compound by reacting upon cinnabarore with nascent halogen.

8. In. a method of extracting mercury of cinnabar ore, the step whichconsists in reacting upon such'ore with a hypochlorite of an alkali oralkaline earth metal and a metal.

Signed by me, this 22nd day of August,

WALTER GLAESER.

